Local View: Insisting on 'English only' is truly befuddling.

From the column: "The U.S. is not falling behind. Rather, the world is catching up. We think nothing about learning new software, and we should feel the same way about learning other languages."

Published 9/6/2023

By John Freivalds

Duluth News Tribune

We are living in an era when many people are saying, “Let’s be isolationist” and, “Let the world take care of itself.” Along with that comes the feeling that English, American English, is the only language that matters. In fact, many people believe English isn’t a language; it is like air or water in that you don’t think about it.

Thus, the University of West Virginia, faced with a budget crisis, dropped teaching and language courses this August. But, due to public pressure, it was forced to rescind some of the cuts. The New York Times reported that, “Language requirements for graduation have been eliminated at Amherst College, the University of Alabama, Johns Hopkins, George Washington University and Duquesne University, among others.”

Nazi whistleblower's advice, lessons still ring true

Polish soldier, resistance-fighter, and diplomat during World War II Jan Karski (left) greets U.S. Gen. Colin Powell at the opening of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1980 in Washington, D.C. / United States Holocaust Memorial Museum photo.

By John Freivalds

Published 4/15/2023

Duluth News Tribune

Jan Karski. Who dat? And why care? Karski in 1942 sought to inform the western world about the atrocities being committed by the Nazis against the Jews in Poland. In today’s parlance, he was a whistleblower. His actions came to light in a one-hour PBS special in March, part of its Great Performance series: “The Legacy of Jan Karski.” Imagine, Karski risked life and limb to bring these Nazi horror stories to light, and only 83 years later did he get some real recognition in America.

Ukrainian security forces comb through debris shortly after a strike at a residential building in Konstantanivka, Ukraine on Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023. Russian shelling has killed at least eight civilians in towns and villages along the front line.

By John Freivalds

Published 1/31/2023

Minneapolis Star Tribune

The NATO defense ministers, including the government I serve, Latvia, have decided to send more weaponry to Ukraine to fight the Russians, including fancy battle tanks. There is total unanimity that the war should continue within the military leadership. They recognized that is the only way to stop President Vladimir Putin. He will not go quietly into the night and go to his villa in Sochi, drink cognac and enjoy his pension.

Local View: Politics, not principles, driving who gets into the US

From the column: "What amazes me most is the rhetoric used to describe humans who want to come here."

By John Freivalds

Published 1/14/2023.

Duluth News Tribune

Ever wonder when the dehumanizing rhetoric of Latin-Americans migrants began? No, it wasn’t with President Donald Trump. It started in 1965 when a new system of immigration control was introduced. The old system had built-in bias against Catholics and Jews, and the Center of Immigration Studies concluded that “the new system is widely credited with having spiked a shift in the composition of immigration away from Europe (and) toward Latin America.”